France 12 defeat Argentina 6
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France defeated Argentina 12-6 in what was a generally uninspiring matched played at Marseille.
France sought revenge for their two defeats in the 2007 World Cup and defeated Argentina in a tough and dour match where no tries were scored and the French boot won the match.
France defeated Argentina with three penalties and a drop goal while only Contemponi could muster two penalties for the Argentina side.
Les Bleus to bring stars to NZ in 2009
It was reported yesterday in the NZ Herard that France will bring their star players to New Zealand in 2009 for their two-test tour on 13 & 20 June 2009.
France went on to guarantee their domestic competition, the Top 14, will conclude earlier in 2010 after the final was scheduled for 6 June 2009. This late date for the final heavily compromised the start to the international calender for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Marc Lievermont the French coach had previously indicated that players in the final would not be selected.
But the New Zealand Rugby Union have confirmed they have received written confirmation from the French Rugby Union that the best side available will travel, this includes players from the final.
This is excellent news as the All Blacks will be able to hopefully attract more fans to the game and higher revenue as a result.
All Blacks 2009 Test Schedule
The New Zealand All Blacks announced their 2009 Test Schedule today. The good news for All Blacks fans is they get to see their team all over the country with 2 matches to be held in Wellington and one each in Dunedin, Christchurch, Auckland and Hamilton.
The real winner of the 2009 schedule is Hamilton who missed out on an international this year and will be keen to impress next year.
Sat 13 June - All Blacks v France - Carisbrook, Dunedin 7.35pm
Sat 20 June - All Blacks v France - Westpac Stadium, Wellington 7.35pm
Sat 27 June - All Blacks v Italy - AMI Stadium, Christchurch 7.35pm
Sat 18 July - All Blacks v Australia - Eden Park, Auckland 7.35pm
Sat 12 Sept - All Blacks v South Africa Waikato Stadium, Hamilton 7.35pm
Sat 19 Sept - All Blacks v Australia Westpac Stadium, Wellington 7.35pm
French Rugby Top 14: Round 2 Results
Round 2 of French Rugby Top 14 compeition saw some spirited matches and some near major upsets on a day when France was sweltering.
Little fancied Mont-de-Marsan came within a whiskers length of defeating the highly fancied Paris side Stade Francais. Stade Francais were lucky to get away with the win at home as the minnows of the Top 14 game them a real fright.
Toulon and Brive played a dour and uninspiring 3-3 draw. Neither side delivered in the warm conditions and both kickers had chances to win but neither could claim victory. Clermont and Toulouse both bounced back to win but Toulouse did it tough against another minnow in Dax. Clermont were showing signs of returning to their form of last year with a convincing 43-20 win over Montpellier.
The full results from Round 2 are below;
Toulon 3 Brive 3
Toulouse 32 Dax 25
Bayonne 22 Montauban 20
Stade Francais 27 Mont-de-Marsan 22
Clermont 43 Montpellier 20
Biarritz 32 Castres 17
Bourgoin 16 Perpignan 22
French Top 14 Round One Wrap-up
The French Rugby Top 14 competition kicked off in France yesterday and several surprise results had the season off to an interesting start. The champions Toulouse were stunned in their loss to Montpellier 16-11 and Toulon the new boys to the competition came from behind in the second half by winning 22-16 against Clermont.
Montpellier who could be a surprise packet after their win against the highly fancied Toulouse side. Toulouse will be analysing this missed chances, particularly focusing on the vital 10 minutes that Byron Kelleher spent in the bin.
Toulon were dead and buried at half-time but managed to win 22-16 after trailing 13-0. Sonny Bill Williams got Toulon back into the clash right after half-time and Toulon were able to power away with a first up victory after being promoted to the French Top 14. In other match results Stade Francais had a convincing win under new coach Ewen McKenzie. Stade Francais top the ladder after Round 1.
Results
Perpignan 34 Brive 18
Castres 26 Bayonne 27
Dax 9 Stade Français 31
Montpellier 16 Toulouse 11
Montauban 37 Mont-de-Marsan 19
Biarritz 29 Bourgoin 22
Toulon 22 Clermont 16
French Top 14 to Kick-Off on 25th August
The French Top 14 Rugby competition kicks off today in France with all fourteen sides facing off in a what looks to be a ripper start to the competition.
Many questions will be asked in the early weeks of the competition with the new ELVs in place how will sides adapt and will all the big name foreign signing’s deliver for their respective teams?
France have gone through a massive increase in foreign players and with this increase will come a greater attention and focus on the sides in action from the foreign media.
So will Toulouse reclaim the trophy? Has Toulon bought the trophy? We will include a wrap-up tomorrow of the results and give you all a brief update on how week one went.
Who do you think will win the Top 14?
The first week fixtures are;
Perpignan vs Brive
Castres vs Bayonne
Dax vs Stade Francais
Montpellier vs Toulouse
Montauban vs Mont de Marsan
Biarritz vs Bourgoin
Toulon vs Clermont
Rugby World Cup 2007: Golden Moments All Blacks Haka vs France
I was thinking back to my time at the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France and some of the best moments. I will feature some of the golden moments over the next few weeks.
For the first golden moment of the 2007 Rugby World Cup I have chosen the haka performed by the All Blacks against France in the quarter-final at the Millennium Stadium in Wales. This venue is amazing and the vibe and buzz was amazing.
France were playing away from home for the first time in the World Cup and it was widely expected New Zealand would win the match and knock France out. The home quarter final France were expected to get was taken by Argentina who shocked the Rugby world by beating France on the opening night of the World Cup.
The haka against France was perhaps the most impressive I have seen. The intensity between both teams was amazing and the French edging towards the All Blacks during the haka was spine tingling. The lasting image for me is of Sebastien Chabal.
Check out the clip below featured on You Tube.
IRB World Rankings - All Blacks No. 1
The IRB have updated the latest rankings for all Rugby nations. After the win by the All Blacks against the Springboks the All Blacks have stolen the top spot followed by South Africa. Australia have also replaced Argentina in third place after the recent poor performance of the Pumas against Scotland and the shock loss to Italy.
The top 10 teams are;
1. New Zealand
2. South Africa
3. Australia
4. Argentina
5. England
6. Wales
7. France
8. Ireland
9. Scotland
10. Italy
Click here to see a complete list of all rankings.
Wallabies counting the injuries
The Wallabies are counting their injuries today after the 40-10 win against France in their two test series. Cameron Shephard who has had a terrible run in recent years with injuries broke his leg in the final two minutes against France. Shephard will be ruled out for the entire Tri-Nations series and is not likely to be back in action for at least four months. In other injury news both James Horwill and Berrick Barnes went to hospital to check out injuries incurred during the match. Barnes, shoulder and Horwill eye are both expected to be fine for the first Tri-Nations match for Australia to be played in two weeks.
In other news from the game last night French forwards Renaud Boyoud and Imanol Harinordoquy have been suspended for three weeks as a result of an ugby fight in the match involving Wallaby James Horwill who was left with a badly damaged eye that was totally closed only moments after the fight.
Australia 40 France 10
Matt Giteau was everywhere in a rousing performance for the Wallabies in a performance where they blow a lacklustre France off the park. France at times looked like they had received too much sun at the beach as they continually dropped ball, missed tackles and generally loked like they wanted to be elsewhere. The much hyped Sebastien Chabel failed to make any real impact on the game and the French team wilted under a much improved Wallaby performance but one that still had a few glitches.
The Wallabies started strongly and led 10-0 after 8 minutes with a good try to Peter Hynes after an early penalty to Matt Giteau. The Wallaby side had looked much more cohesive in this game and while France did not look much better than last week they at least in the early stages tried to maintain some control of the ball. This was short lived as any likely chance they had was ruined by terrible ball control or unneccessary passes. The Wallabies however took most of their chances and led 26-3 at half time. Just before half time a bust up between the French side after some pushing at the breakdown evolved into a major fight with James Horwill departing the field with a badly busted up eye. The French who were attacking at the time of the half time siren received a penalty but oddly opted for a penalty while down 26-0.
The second half was scrappy at times but opened up as the match progressed. The Wallabies started to chance their arm and made multiple substitutions as the Wallabies had the game in the bag. The inclusion of Smith with about 30 minutes to go was a major catalyst for the Wallabies to move up a gear. With Smith and Waugh digging in at the breakdown the Wallabies secured more ball and strangled the French of any real chance to receive quick ball. Two fine tries to Cross off the end of some great team work leading up to the tries topped off the win.
The Wallabies will be pleased with the effort and dominant scrum that turned over two French feeds with Ben Alexander on the field late impressing once again with his workrate and scrummaging. The Wallabies now have two weeks till they take on the Springboks and they will need to be at their best as the intensity of the the All Blacks and Springboks were in another league when they played earlier in the evening. When the Wallabies watch a reply of the match in Wellington they will realise what they have ahead of them.
Australia 40
Tries: Peter Hynes, James Horwill, Ryan Cross (2)
Goals: Matt Giteau 4 penalties, 4 conversions
France 10
Tries: Francois Trinh-Duc
Goals: Francois Trinh-Duc penalty, Dimitri Yachvili conversion